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The Official Blog of VCU AthleticsFri, 27 Feb 2015 20:21:10 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngAROUND THE HORNShttps://aroundthehorns.wordpress.com
A-10 RACE HEADED DOWN TO THE WIREhttps://aroundthehorns.wordpress.com/2015/02/27/a-10-race-headed-down-to-the-wire/
https://aroundthehorns.wordpress.com/2015/02/27/a-10-race-headed-down-to-the-wire/#commentsFri, 27 Feb 2015 20:09:46 +0000http://aroundthehorns.wordpress.com/?p=9530[…]]]>

It’s Feb. 27, and the Atlantic 10 Conference regular season title is, to say the least, undecided with three games remaining:

For the time being, we’ll ignore the unlikely event that UMass or Richmond, both 9-6, find an avenue to the top seed. Quite a conundrum we have here, eh? In the event of a two-way tie, the tiebreaker is simply head-to-head. After that, it gets…complicated. Per the A-10 (click to enlarge):

Let’s take a quick look at each of the four teams’ remaining schedules (results listed are Ken Pomeroy’s predictions).

VCU

The good news for VCU is that it still controls its own destiny at this point. The Rams own a head-to-head tiebreaker versus Rhode Island and can lock up the league title with wins against Dayton and Davidson (easier said than done). Combined A-10 record of remaining opponents: 25-20.

DAYTON

While Dayton does not control its own destiny – the Flyers lost at Davidson – they can prevent both VCU and Rhode Island from winning the league, then hope Davidson stumbles down the stretch. Combined A-10 record of remaining opponents: 29-16.

DAVIDSON

Davidson, a preseason afterthought in the league race, may be in the most advantageous position of the four contenders. The Wildcats two toughest games on paper are both at home, where they are 12-1 this year. The Wildcats also own wins over both Dayton and Rhode Island. The Wildcats did lose to VCU on Jan. 7. Combined A-10 record of remaining opponents: 24-21.

RHODE ISLAND

Rhode Island likely has the most to lose from missing out on the regular season title and also may have the most uphill battle. The remaining schedule is tough, but negotiable, but the Rams have already lost to both VCU and Davidson and still have to play at Dayton, where the Flyers are unbeaten this season. Combined record of remaining A-10 opponents: 24-21.

At this stage VCU and Dayton (most likely) are in the NCAA Tournament, while Davidson has played itself onto the bubble. Rhode Island, however, really needs a strong finish to get into the bubble conversation.

Check out VCU sophomore Isis Thorpe’s buzzer-beater at Davidson from Wednesday night. With the game tied at 63-all, VCU inbounded from underneath its own basket with 2.5 seconds left. Inbounder Chadarryl Clay spies Thorpe over the top and the Pennsylvania native catches and fires the winner. VCU improved to 16-12 with the win, while Thorpe continues to enjoy a terrific sophomore season. She led VCU with 16 points last night.

RICHMOND, Va. – At some point, late in regulation of Wednesday night’s 67-63 double overtime loss to Richmond, as Treveon Graham took the ball for the umpteenth time, his lungs likely burning (and not just from all the floating sweater vest fibers in the air), his legs probably feeling like Jell-O, I wondered when his body would just quit. Shut down. Go on strike. Possession after possession I watched as he slogged through the clogged paint, took abuse and readied for more.

And that was before he willed an improbable VCU comeback into existence by – I don’t even know what to call it anymore – Grahamagic?

What followed was about an hour of the most emotionally draining, mathematically unlikely and just plain crazy basketball I’ve witnessed while on the VCU dime.

Teetering on the edge of full-on collapse early in the second half, VCU rallied from 16 points down to force overtime. With 2:06 left, the Rams were still down eight and shooting a very comeback-unfriendly 30-something-or-other percent. But then a steal and a few free throws, and a three and another steal and an airball and another steal and a couple of missed Richmond free throws and then a 3-pointer so deep Graham wouldn’t try it in H-O-R-S-E and then a ShawnDre’ Jones prayer that agonizingly bounced three times on the rim after the buzzer….and boom. Overtime, just that simple.

Oh, but wait. In overtime, VCU takes an eventual three-point lead with seven seconds left, fouls Richmond with 4.1 on the clock and then watches as Richmond purposely misses the second free throw, gets a perfect deflection off VCU and then runs a great inbounds play to tie the game. Double overtime, just that simple.

That is the most abbreviated version of Wednesday’s madness. It doesn’t do it justice. VCU got off to a rough start, fell behind by 16, took its first lead of the game with 1:17 remaining in the first overtime and was a deadball rebound away from a win.

In the end, I saw two teams that were absolutely gassed, playing a game of chicken. Six players in the game saw more than 40 minutes, including Graham, who played 45 and finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds. They kept coming at each other, kept taking punches.

It’s been a little bit like that for VCU since Briante Weber’s injury. They lost one road game at the buzzer and another in double overtime without Graham, only to recover with three straight wins.

There have been excruciating moments. VCU’s last three losses have come by a combined 11 points and have featured a total of four overtimes. In all three games, VCU was a bounce here, a tipped ball there, away from a win. Basketball can be a little cruel that way sometimes.

It’s been said that adversity reveals character. This team is evidence of that. The last 30 days or so have been trying, from Weber’s injury to these close losses. But when I look out on the floor I see Graham grinding. I see JeQuan Lewis throwing his body all over the floor. I see Mo Alie-Cox wielding his 250 pounds like a blunt object. I see resilience. I see perseverance. I see guys absolutely laying it on the line for each other.

Richmond outplayed VCU pretty thoroughly in the first half Wednesday. That much is true. But VCU never stopped charging. How can anybody who watched Wednesday’s game, or the La Salle game, or the St. Bonaventure game, lose sleep over the effort?

Losing to your rival stinks, but these guys are gutting it out every night. The team isn’t perfect – and is perhaps, even more imperfect since Weber’s injury – but these are the kind of guys you can and should root for. The stretch run in the Atlantic 10 isn’t getting any easier, but the talent is still there and the intangibles – the attitude, the heart – are there. These are the kind of guys you hitch your wagon to.

“Our guys have been doing that all year, particularly on the road. I think the resolve and the response our guys showed was terrific,” VCU Coach Shaka Smart said. “In terms of response, I think it says a lot about ours. It’s been a strength of ours this year.”

On his radio show last week, Smart talked about the difficulty coaches face in terms of players committing to winning. He called it the No. 1 problem confronting college coaches. I don’t know what challenges Smart faces with this group day-today, but I know that when the game tips off, these guys are bought in. This group is committed. It doesn’t always lead to a win, but if you’ve got that, you’re going to win a lot more than you’ll lose. I’m banking on these guys. On to Saturday.

Jordan Burgess may wear the same number as older brother Bradford, but he’s carving out his own, distinct legacy at VCU.

RICHMOND, Va. – It was only appropriate that perhaps the biggest plays of VCU’s win over UMass Saturday were made by a Burgess.

After his jersey was retired in a pregame ceremony, former VCU star Bradford Burgess looked on as younger brother Jordan helped turn the tide in a pivotal 78-72 victory.

It was Bradford Burgess’ first game at the Siegel Center since he graduated in 2012. He was likely impressed with what he saw. Jordan finished with 5 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and a blocked shot. While it wasn’t the type of stat line that inspires people to hang your jersey from the rafters, it did advance the notion that Jordan is doing just fine carving out a memorable career, his way.

“There’s a tendency sometimes to dwell upon stats in measuring a player’s impact, but I think that’s a mistake with Jordan. He’s about winning. He’s about the right things,” VCU Coach Shaka Smart said afterwards.

Although he wears the same No. 20 Bradford and bears a resemblance, Jordan’s game is much more rugged. There’s no veneer. He’s not the shooter Bradford was – at least not yet. No, Jordan is something different.

Jordan does, however, appear to have some of Bradford’s flair for the dramatic. Earlier this year, Jordan hit a dramatic, game-tying 3-pointer late in a win at Saint Louis. Last season, he scored 14 points in the Rams NCAA Tournament loss to Stephen F. Austin, the most ever by a VCU freshman.

On Saturday, UMass used a 12-0 burst midway through the second half to take its first lead, 48-47. The Rams were sinking fast, but Burgess hit a go-ahead 3-pointer to give the Rams a 50-48 lead with 11:12 left. Moments later, he blocked a Maxie Esho layup attempt that would’ve tied the game. Then, a rebound, and an assist, and the tide had shifted. Burgess keyed what would eventually become an 11-2 run, and he did it mostly with the type of lunchpail plays for which he has become known. UMass would continue to battle the Rams down the stretch, but never got closer than three points.

It wasn’t a flurry of 3-pointers or ferocious dunks. It was, other than the 3-pointer – which snapped a VCU scoreless streak of five minutes – a display of intangibles and team-oriented play. It’s not sexy. It’s selfless, and it wins.

“Those are the plays that Jordan makes, whether it’s big rebounds we need or clutch shots that we might need. He’s always there,” said Treveon Graham, who led the Rams with 24 points. “He gives us that play or two that we need to get our run going.”

“Not scoring a lot doesn’t really bother me,” Jordan Burgess said. “We have plenty of players on our team that can score. I think there were about 4-5 people that were in double figures today, so I just try to do a lot of things that people might not see on the stat sheet, like rebound, be in the right position on defense, just helping my teammates out any way I can, especially if I’m not putting points up on the board. I’m doing anything I can to help my team win.”

Bradford Burgess was honored in a pregame ceremony Saturday. Fans, striped in black and gold shirts, held up cards with “Burgess 20” on them. Parents Keith and Myla Burgess clung close to the boys. As Keith Burgess looked up at the newly unfurled No. 20 banner – Brad and Jordan wear it as a tribute to him – he openly wept.

Despite the moving video homage, the fanfare and the tears, Jordan remained stoic and focused.

“It was emotional for my parents. It was just an exciting day for me. I tried not to put too much emotion into it so I wouldn’t get away from the game that I had to play. It was a great feeling for my family and I’m very proud of my brother,” he said.

“He seemed like regular Jordan to me,” said teammate Mo Alie-Cox. “He didn’t seem to show any emotions. He’s just always about his business. He does the little things, everything we want him to do.”

He also resisted the urge to play outside himself, to be something he wasn’t. Instead of trying to be “Big Shot Brad”, he was “Mr. Intangible.”

“There’s a natural tendency, but we can’t get away from our game plan,” he said. “I don’t want to be selfish towards my teammates and try to go out and get mine. I’m just that player. My teammates were saying that this was a game for me to get 20, but that’s just not the way I play. I still play to win and to win the right way.”

Bradford is currently playing professionally in Italy. Despite the distance, the brothers remain close and talk nearly every day. Bradford often stays up until 3 or 4 in the morning to watch Jordan’s games online. But this was his first chance to watch VCU’s current No. 20 play for the Rams in person. Just prior to the pregame jersey retirement ceremony, as the Burgess family took the floor, Bradford leaned over and delivered some advice to his sibling.

“He just said that I’m my own person,” Jordan said. “He said it’s my turn to make a name for myself now, so he said go out there and play.”

Ironically, this interview we shot with Bradford Burgess for the pregame shot was bumped by…the ceremony honoring Bradford Burgess. But have no fear! We have Internets! Here’s my chat with Brad, who talks about his emotions heading into Saturday’s big moment.

Bradford Burgess ranks fifth in VCU history with 1,684 points and third in 3-point field goals with 231.

People started calling him “Big Shot” years ago, but now maybe Bradford Burgess will actually feel like one.

That’s because on Feb. 21 prior to VCU’s game with UMass, the Rams will retire Burgess’ jersey.

Appropriately, a likeness of his No. 20 jersey will hang not far from the Final Four banner he helped deliver.

Burgess will become the fifth VCU Men’s Basketball player to see his jersey retired. He’ll join an elite group that includes Eric Maynor, Calvin Duncan, Kendrick Warren and Gerald Henderson. It’s lofty company.

Although he was recently passed by Treveon Graham on VCU’s all-time list, Burgess still ranks fifth on the program’s career scoring chart with 1, 684 points. He is one of just three players in school history – joining Warren and Charles Wilkins – to score at least 1,600 points, grab 700 rebounds and hand out 200 assists. Burgess also started 146 consecutive games for the Rams.

Burgess’ credentials are outstanding, but the case for his jersey retirement is about a lot more than points or starts or his 231 career 3-pointers. Burgess’ jersey will hang from the Siegel Center rafters because he won – a lot. The beauty of Burgess’ career is that his game often felt unassuming, until the Rams were headed home with another win.

He became the first VCU player in 25 years to appear in three NCAA Tournaments, including – and this is going to be a theme, that 2011 Final Four. He helped lift the Rams to a pair of CAA Championships and six NCAA Tournament wins.

Burgess helped lead the Rams to three NCAA Tournaments, including the 2011 Final Four.

But Burgess cemented his place in history with one incredible month in 2011. In nine postseason games in March of that year, Burgess averaged 16.0 points and 7.2 rebounds while shooting 55 percent (23-of-42) from 3-point range. He scored 19 points in the CAA Championship Game in a loss to Dominion. Two weeks later, he dropped 23 as the Rams shredded Purdue – a top 10 team that season – to send the Rams to the Sweet 16 for the first time. The next game, he hit six threes and scored 26 points to push the Rams past Florida State and into the Elite Eight. He added 15 points and nine boards in the National Semifinal against Butler.

VCU graduated four of its top five scorers from that Final Four team, and Burgess promptly led the Rams to a conference title and the NCAA Tournament Second Round the following season.

He didn’t really need any help securing his legacy, but Burgess’ jersey retirement will be a way to ensure future VCU fans learn and appreciate it. He’s the only player from VCU’s Final Four team to have his jersey retired, and that alone should speak volumes about his career.

Burgess’ career is 146 games full of unforgettable moments. Here are my favorites.

5-Spoilermakers (March 20, 2011): VCU was already a compelling storyline on the heels of NCAA Tournament wins over USC and Georgetown when it met Big Ten juggernaut Purdue in Chicago. The Boilermakers spent the majority of the year ranked in the top 10 and boasted the Big Ten’s best defense, which meant precisely nothing to the Rams. Behind 23 points by Burgess (on 8-of-12 shooting), VCU torched Purdue for a season-high 94 points and a Sweet 16 berth.

4-Shocking Wichita State (March 15, 2012): When VCU reached the Final Four in 2011, Burgess was surrounded by a senior quartet of Joey Rodriguez, Jamie Skeen, Ed Nixon and Brandon Rozzell. But in 2011-12, the Rams were very much Burgess’ team, and a 62-59 upset of fifth-seeded Wichita State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament was the perfect cap to his season as The Guy. Trailing 59-57, Burgess buried a 3-pointer from the left corner with 1:29 remaining to give the Rams a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. He finished with 15 points.

3-A Star is Born (Dec. 13, 2008): Burgess’ reputation as a clutch playmaker began just nine games into his career. Locked in a tie game at the Robins Center with rival Richmond, Burgess buried a go-ahead 3-pointer with 48.7 seconds left. VCU would hold on for a 77-76 win.

2-You Wouldn’t Like Me When I’m Angry (Feb. 25, 2012): Burgess rarely showed much emotion on the basketball court, and he even played with the sort of take-it-as-it-comes style. This is, until George Mason made him mad. The Patriots, whether they intended or not, took the floor during Burgess’ Senior Day ceremony and began their warm-ups, a serious breach of basketball etiquette. Burgess promptly eviscerated Mason with a career-high 31 points on the way to an 89-77 win. George Mason Athletic Director Tom O’Connor later apologized for the incident.

1-The Inbounds Play Heard Around the World (March 25, 2011): Of all the big shots Burgess hit during his VCU career, none was bigger than this one. Trailing Florida State 71-70 in overtime of the 2011 NCAA Southwest Regional Semifinal, Joey Rodriguez, triggering an inbounds play from underneath the basket, found Burgess for a go-ahead layup with 7.1 seconds remaining. VCU won 72-71 and beat Kansas two days later to reach the Final Four.

Burgess’ game-winner against Florida State in 2011.

Filed under: Men's Basketball Tagged: Bradford Burgess]]>https://aroundthehorns.wordpress.com/2015/02/20/burgess-definitely-a-big-shot-now/feed/0aroundthehornsVCU Rams1Bradford Burgess ranks fifth in VCU history with 1,684 points and third in 3-point field goals with 231.Burgess helped lead the Rams to three NCAA Tournaments, including the 2011 Final Four. Burgess' game-winner against Florida State in 2011. TERRY LARRIER, MAN IN TRANSITIONhttps://aroundthehorns.wordpress.com/2015/02/19/terry-larrier-man-in-transition/
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Freshman Terry Larrier is averaging 6.7 points per game this season.

Terry Larrier knows a little something about transitions.

The 6-foot-7 VCU freshman’s current adjustment is to college curriculums and the rugged style of Division I college basketball. It’s a been a period of change for the lanky wing player, who also happens to be VCU’s highest-ranked recruit in a generation.

High school basketball and college basketball are the same in that their names both contain the word “basketball”. Other than that it’s like going from Mario Kart to NASCAR. It’s not just that college basketball players are more skilled – they are – it’s that most of them are genetic wonders.

But for Larrier, it’s not the first time he’s faced such difficult transition far from home. The last one helped shape him personally, academically and athletically, and made his college career possible.

Although he is, like teammate Melvin Johnson, a Bronx, New York kid to the bone, Larrier spent his final two years of high school at The Phelps Academy in Malvern, Pennsylvania, located in the rolling rural patches west of Philadelphia. It couldn’t have been more different than The Bronx.

According to the 2010 United States Census, more than 1.4 million people reside in The Bronx. For every one of the borough’s 42 inhabitable square miles, there are an average of 32,000 residents. In Malvern, there are about 3,000 people living in the entire town.

Set back a couple hundred yards off a country road, Phelps is a private, all boys boarding school. The Phelps website depicts student life through images of smiling teens in Hollister sweatshirts framed by verdant backdrops. There’s also a direct link for students to order their school uniforms, khakis and navy polo on most days, from Land’s End.

“It’s basically in the middle of nowhere,” Larrier says. “I went from being in classes with 32 kids to six, 10 kids. It was a big change and transition for me, but it was something I had to do. It was the best thing for me.”

John F. Kennedy High School, where Larrier spent his freshman and sophomore years was a large, public behemoth nestled between the Henry Hudson Parkway and the Major Deegan Expressway. Before it was shuttered in 2014, the school had been marked in recent years by poor academic performance.

“I needed to get out of New York so I could focus on just my schoolwork and basketball. It was a small school. It was a good situation for me,” he said. “There were just too many distractions for me [in New York].”

Larrier says he’d seen too many great New York City high school players fall by the wayside because they couldn’t qualify academically for college. He didn’t want to become another New York high school legend turned “Where are They Now?”

It was that mindset that led him to Phelps, which was physically two hours away, but, for all intents and purposes, was on another planet.

His retreat to the Pennsylvania hills didn’t throw college recruiters off his scent. Larrier thrived at Phelps and on the AAU circuit and shot up the recruiting boards. Shaka Smart and his staff targeted Larrier midway through his high school career before schools like UCONN had him on their radar. By his senior year, the competition for Larrier was intense. Throughout the process, he leaned on Johnson, his fellow Bronx native, to gather intel on Smart and VCU.

A consensus top-50 recruit, Larrier is the highest-rated VCU freshman since Kendrick Warren in 1990.

“He was basically telling me what kind of coach Coach Smart was. That’s basically what I was trying to emphasize as far as my decision went,” Larrier said. “I was going to go be with a good coaching staff, so he was just telling me how good a coach he was and how much freedom he gives the guys as long as they do what they’re supposed to do, and that was something that I liked.”

Larrier also made several visits to VCU and attended the Rams’ wins over ranked Butler and Saint Louis teams. The crowd, he says, made an impression.

“The crowd was definitely crazy,” he said, cracking a smile. “The fans showed me a lot of love when I came down here. Some of the other schools that recruited me, they had football…so the fans were just more into football than basketball.”

Larrier ultimately chose VCU over UCONN, despite its 2014 National Championship. A consensus top-50 recruit, Larrier’s signing generated headlines in a way not seen for an incoming VCU freshman since McDonald’s All-American Kendrick Warren.

Like all college freshmen, Larrier’s freshman year has been an adjustment, but he’s enjoyed a fair amount of success. He’s averaging 6.7 points per game for the Rams, the most by a VCU freshman since Bradford Burgess in 2008-09.

He’s also had some real teaser moments. Games where writers like myself rapid fire Twitter platitudes about Larrier’s “ceiling” and such. It’s not an intentional repurposing of the hype that surrounded Larrier’s signing and his brief VCU tenure, but more of an acknowledgement of his obvious and rare skills.

That’s not to say there haven’t been challenges. Larrier arrived on campus a slender 175 pounds. Although he’s added 13 pounds to his frame through weight training, he’ll need to get stronger in the coming years. Defensively, he’s worked hard, but is still finding his way.

“I thought I knew how to guard a ball screen in high school, but when I got here it was totally different,” he says. “Ball screens in high school, we were just switching or go under. We don’t go under ball screens [here]. You’ve got to blow it up.”

Despite the inherent challenges, Larrier says he’s getting more comfortable throughout the season. Progress is rarely linear, but Larrier says his transition is headed in the right direction.

“Right now I’m real confident,” he declares. “I’ve always been confident in my game. I’m definitely over that freshman period, the pre-jitters. I’m definitely more calm when I play now.”